BLACKSBURG -- The new kings of Tobacco Road don't want to lose their throne.

The Virginia Tech men's basketball team opened ACC play last month by beating underdog Wake Forest. Then on Jan. 6, the Hokies knocked off then-No. 5 Duke for their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium. And on Saturday, Tech toppled No. 1 North Carolina 94-88 to snap an 18-game skid against the Tar Heels that dated back to the 1960s.

"The level of expectation, that rises now," Tech guard Zabian Dowdell said after Saturday's game at Cassell Coliseum.

"If you can come out and beat the No. 5 team on their court and beat the No. 1 team at home, then you can't go out and lose the games that you're supposed to win. You can't go out and not give maximum effort."

"We're pleased about this, but we're not going to rest on our laurels," center Coleman Collins said.

North Carolina started four former McDonald's All-Americans, including collegiate All-American Tyler Hansbrough. But Tech had the senior trio of Dowdell, Collins and guard Jamon Gordon.

"We know they've got McDonald's All-Americans," Collins said. "Me, Jamon and Zabe, we're not top-100 guys. We're guys that came in and were kind of looked over. We've got a chip on our shoulder.

"After we had a little bit of success our sophomore year, I think we kind of lost that fire because we kind of got a little respect last year. ... We didn't have that underdog mentality. Now we feel like we're the underdog, but at the same time, we don't expect to lose to anybody."

After beating a No. 1 team for the first time in 24 years, Tech (13-4, 3-0) might have to shed its underdog image when the polls come out today. The Hokies could be ranked for the first time since the 1995-96 season, when they were as high as eighth before finishing 22nd in the final Associated Press poll.

"It'll be a good feeling" if Tech cracks the Top 25, Dowdell said. "But you have to keep the ultimate goal in mind, and continue working toward that."

That 1995-96 season also was the last time Tech made the NCAA tournament -- the "ultimate goal."

Tech's victories have toppled the traditional hierarchy in the ACC. The only teams with perfect league records are Tech and fellow Big East-defector Boston College, which is 4-0.

Tech is the first team to record back-to-back ACC wins over Duke and Carolina since January 2003, when both Maryland and N.C. State did so.

"It's a great win for our seniors, but it doesn't mean anything if we don't do what we need to do the next 13 games," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "We've got to build on what we're doing."

The Hokies weren't so upbeat last season, when they went 14-16, 4-12. They suffered a number of off-court woes, including the death of Collins' father and the cancer of ex-Hokie Allen Calloway.

Greenberg changed his coaching approach to get through last season, but a Dec. 30 loss to Marshall made him reclaim his old fire. Accountability is once again his creed.

Tech has won four straight since a 59-58 loss at Marshall in which it trailed by 21 points in the first half. Dowdell has said players were laughing in the huddle in that game.

Greenberg made the team watch film of that half when the Hokies got back to campus that night. He didn't start Gordon, Dowdell and Collins in the following game, a win over Richmond.

"Everything we went through [last season], we survived. And we probably got lax on some things that the previous two years ... we wouldn't have given into," Greenberg said.

"I just said, 'Enough's enough.' We'd been through the worst that any team ... could go through, but I wasn't happy ... continuing to allow us to use that as our crutch."

Last season, Tech was 3-12 in games decided by six points or less. This season, Tech is 4-4 in such games.

Tech lost much of a big lead Saturday, just as it did in November against Iowa, but the Hokies hung on both times.

"Experience is finally kicking in," Dowdell said. "Guys are finally keeping their composure late in games and making the right plays."

Dowdell and Gordon combined for 40 points, nine rebounds, nine assists and nine steals Saturday. They outplayed their younger UNC counterparts, just as they had outplayed the younger Duke backcourt.

"We just came out trying to show the world that me and Zabe deserve a lot of credit," Gordon said.

That backcourt experience should continue to be a plus. The only other ACC team that starts two senior guards is Maryland, which has two seniors among its three starting guards.

Maryland is also the only ACC team other than Tech that starts three seniors overall.